The Return of Miles Edgeworth
by Syrus
Summary: Miles Edgeworth returns after a year long absence, and Phoenix finally gets the questions answered which had been haunting him for the entire year. Spoilers for JFA! And I'd like to thank Raku for writing this story with me! Also this story is AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Phoenix hurried as quickly as he could to the police station to meet his cousin Mai. She'd called to tell him that she'd be starting as a detective that day, and he wanted to get down there to congratulate her. He was so happy that she'd been able to get a job in his city, since he rarely got see her when they grew up since they lived so far apart.

_I wish I had a car...that would make these things much easier..._Phoenix thought, running as quickly as he could.

Phoenix finally got inside the police department, feeling slightly out of breath. Mai had mentioned that her desk was to the left of the door, and down the hall, so Phoenix made his way there quickly. When he got to the desk, he found her just finishing unpacking her stuff and arranging it.

"Mai!" Phoenix said with a smile.

"Phoenix!" she replied as she looked up and noticed him, "It sure took you a while to get here."

"Things are a whole lot slower on foot." Phoenix replied with a little sarcasm, but the smile didn't leave his face, "Oh, by the way...Congrats on your new job!"

Mai seemed absolutely pleased as she replied, "Thanks! I was glad I could get transferred here...now we can hang out more, right?"

"You know it." Phoenix said, glad that his favorite cousin was now much closer than she used to be.

Mai glanced at the clock and suddenly realized that it was getting late, and she already had work to do.

"Well, I guess we'll have to talk more later...I have a lot of other stuff I have to get done today. But I'm really glad you came to welcome me here!" Mai said happily.

"Yeah, I actually have some case work to get to myself, so I should get going anyway." Phoenix said, slowly making his way to the door outside.

"I'll walk you outside. I can do that at least." Mai said with a smile.

Mai and Phoenix finally reached the doors of the police department, so he knew it was time for them to say good bye. 

Phoenix just suddenly reached out and gave her a hug, saying, "Hey, I'm really happy for you."

After a moment she pulled back and said, "Thanks. Well, I guess I better get to work."

"See you later!" Phoenix said happily.

After a long year without contacting anyone, Miles Edgeworth was back, permanently. He decided to head to the police station first, to thank Gumshoe for helping him settle back in, and Pess was in need of a walk. If getting his shirt sleeve tugged at constantly was not a sign, nothing was.

After he'd almost arrived at the police station, as he pondered on what he would say to Gumshoe and everyone on his sudden leave, his grip on Pess's leash loosened enough for it to get tugged out of his hand. In those few seconds, Pess was rushing down the street, the leash hanging and Edgeworth on his tail. He groaned as he realized how much faster a dog was than a human. Pess continued on, heading for the police station excitedly.

Afraid that Pess might run into the street, Edgeworth continued his chase, although he was starting to feel worn out.

_I wonder where dogs get all their energy..._Edgeworth thought.

He knew that Pess wouldn't slow down if he stopped, the familiar shops and buildings must have gotten his dog happy, especially since Gumshoe had loved playing with Pess whenever he was too busy with work to do so.

"Pess! Come back here!" he yelled as loud as he could to his dog, but to no avail.

As Edgeworth rounded the corner he saw that Pess' target was Gumshoe, who was now kneeling over petting him. He stopped to get a proper amount of air into his lungs. Pess barked happily running back to him and pulling at his pant leg.

"Giving you some trouble?" Gumshoe scratches the back of his head walking over.

"Nothing...I can't handle." Talking was proving to be difficult while trying to catch his breath. "He needed a walk and I had an errand."

Feeling much better, Edgeworth and Gumshoe entered a very light conversation, Pess running around them happily.

Although Gumshoe was in front of him, he had a clear view of the front of the police department. It was one shock to see Phoenix come out of those very same doors, it was a bigger shock to see him come out with a girl and hug her. A sudden feeling pierced through his heart and he couldn't quite place what it was. He didn't like the feeling at all.

_Why is Phoenix hugging someone bothering me so much? I shouldn't care who he's with..._Edgeworth thought in confusion and annoyance at himself._  
_  
"Well, I still have some work to get done, Mr. Edgeworth, so I'd better get back inside."

Gumshoe gave the dog a final pet on the head before heading back inside, after saying a quick hello to Phoenix.

Edgeworth immediately would have left before Phoenix saw him, but upon noticing Phoenix, Pess shot straight for him, barking at his heels, and tugging at his pants. He mentally kicked himself for not grabbing the leach earlier.

Phoenix returned the quick hello with Gumshoe when he was suddenly shocked to find a very happy and excited dog at his feet. He looked down and was surprised to see that it was none other than Pess, Miles Edgeworth's dog. He gave it a few pets as he realized something.

_If Pess is here than Miles musn't be far behind..._Phoenix thought, so many conflicting emotions bubbling up inside of him at once.

Phoenix looked up from the dog, and sure enough, there he was...and he was looking straight at both of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Edgeworth wanted to say something, but his mouth refused to open. He stared at Phoenix, keeping himself completely composed. He was in turmoil though. He couldn't quite place why he was affected by the last scene that played in front of him and why he was having so much trouble keeping unwanted tears in. Shouldn't he be glad Phoenix found someone? But yet, he felt a little betrayed. Or maybe this was another feeling. Although Pess was barking, his ears had went deaf and the only thing in his sight was

Phoenix. Finally he was able to get himself to talk.

"Hello Wright," he said nearly cringing at himself. He didn't intend it, but it sounded more cold than it should have been.

Phoenix just looked back at Miles, his shocked expression now covered with a scowl. When Miles left the way he did, Phoenix felt abandoned and betrayed. Even if a small part of him felt extremely relieved that nothing bad had happened to him, he didn't know if he could bring himself to forgive Miles for what he put him through so quickly, especially now if he didn't even seem to feel sorry for it. Miles's tone seemed enough evidence of that to him.

Phoenix narrowed his eyes slightly and replied curtly, "Edgeworth."

For a split second, a wave of pain and guilt washed over his eyes that even Edgeworth did not notice, before replaced with his usual cold expression. His mind was having trouble keeping up with the sudden situation. It was odd to have Phoenix give him such an expression he was near speechless. However, he was not going to let this slide.

"I see you're still doing fine," his tone seemed a lot softer suddenly. Why was it when he wanted it to be forceful that it fails at him? "Well I believe both of us must have something to do, so I really must be going." He picked up the leash that was attached to Pess' collar. However, Pess had other plans. As he straightened himself, Pess started running around them, the leash wrapping around both their legs. It was as though he had sensed his owner's feelings and was trying to fix it.

Before Phoenix even realized what was happening, he felt the leash around his legs, and his knees were buckling due to the unexpected force of the pull. Suddenly he'd fallen on Miles, and since Miles's legs were also wrapped in the leash, he couldn't hold them both up. Phoenix found himself lying on top of Miles on the floor in front of the police department, causing himself to flush the reddest color human skin could get.

Edgeworth didn't know what was more painful, the fall or having someone on top of you. It was that same someone who made him forget about all the sudden rush of pain and he suddenly felt extremely hot in the face. Having pale skin seemed to make it all the worse since his face was probably even redder than Phoenix's was because of it. He couldn't quite place it, but he kinda liked the closeness. Of course he'd never say that out loud. But that didn't mean it wasn't painful, that fall had knocked the wind out of him and Phoenix was a lot heavier than he actually anticipated.

"Wright...as much fun as this is. I'd really like if you could try to remove yourself from on top of me." He couldn't help but sound embarrassed. Although there was enough room to think of how Pess had gotten like this. He's smarter than I thought he was...This was true, he hadn't expected Pess to be the source of this whole ordeal.

Phoenix quickly untangled himself from the leash and got off of Miles, still blushing from all of that. He could see that he wasn't the only one that was thoroughly embarrassed. Deep down, he had to say though, the sudden physical contact with Miles felt a lot nicer than he had expected it to, but he still would stand his ground about how wrong it was of Miles to leave everything and everyone the way he did...leave him the way that he did, especially. Phoenix felt much too hurt to let him come back and act as though nothing had happened, and before he realized it, words he would have liked to keep to himself slipped out of his mouth.

With the blush finally leaving his cheeks, he said, his voice sounding bitter and cold, "Why did you leave like that, Edgeworth? Letting everyone think you might have died...after all that, it would have been best if you didn't come back."

Still holding the leash, Edgeworth slowly started getting back up. He froze as those last words came out of Phoenix's mouth. He knew his leave was abrupt and that it was unexpected. But he needed time to think by himself to sort out all his thoughts and feelings. He didn't know he would react this way. It felt as though something inside him had shattered into millions of pieces, leaving him broken and alone. He kept his head low as he straightened himself, not wanting to make eye contact. There was no way he could counter words like those, his whole being had been shaken by them.

"Is that how you really feel Wright?" Edgeworth said, keeping his voice as strong as he could, but it was feeling weaker and weaker by the second. "If that's what you think, then so be it. Hopefully we won't see each other in court ever again."

Although Phoenix didn't seem to want to see him anymore, he still wanted to see Phoenix. Those battles in courts were truly what made his job as a prosecutor worth while. His grip on Pess' leash grew tighter subconsciously.

"I think I'll go now. I have nothing else to say to you." Edgeworth said, knowing that was a complete lie since there were so many things he wanted to say, but if Phoenix was so intent on throwing away his existence, these words were useless. He didn't wait for a reply and it seemed Pess knew too, because Pess obeyed without a fight.

Suddenly Phoenix realized that he had said too much when he heard how hurt Miles sounded when he replied to him. Yes, he was hurt with the way Miles left, but if he talked to him this way, he'd never find out why, and that was what troubled him more than anything. But what got to him was how Miles didn't even say sorry or anything like it. 

Phoenix grabbed Miles's shoulder to prevent him from escaping and said with determination, "No. You're not going anywhere until you tell me why."

Edgeworth couldn't tell Phoenix yet, he was still trying to figure out the nature of this feeling he's had since the trial Phoenix defended him in. This feeling had to do with Phoenix himself, but it was certainly foreign to him. That whole trial had been too stressful and emotional for him. If he didn't leave he wouldn't have been able to sort out most of what was on his mind and how he was feeling. He knew he owed an explanation, but he didn't feel he was ready to say anything.

"I can't tell you. Not yet. So you'll just have to accept an apology for now."

He didn't turn to face Phoenix. He hoped that Phoenix would at least accept his apology if nothing else.

_I'm truly sorry I caused him pain for my selfish reasons and actions..._Edgeworth thought, now feeling very guilty.

Phoenix looked at Miles in disbelief.

"...Just an 'I'm sorry'? After all that? After you let everyone think you committed suicide?!" Phoenix said, hearing his voice getting progressively more angry, but he just couldn't make himself get it in check, all of these emotions now boiling over, out of control.

_He makes everything sound less complicated..._Miles thought as he guessed that an apology alone wasn't going to cut it.

Sighing in defeat, Miles said, "Fine, but can we discuss this somewhere more private?"

All this arguing was getting nowhere and that fall from earlier had given him a slight headache. Phoenix's anger was starting to get a lot of stares, and it was starting to feel uncomfortable to have so many people walking by giving them weird glances.

Phoenix almost said 'no', but he realized that would be a really juvenile way to deal with this situation, and that they wouldn't be able to clear up what had happened that way.

Phoenix let out a sigh and said, "Alright. My office isn't too far from here."

The sound of going somewhere else that wasn't home got Pess excited again. He barked loudly, wagging his tail fervently. Edgeworth smiled softly, although it didn't reach his eyes, which still expressed an unwanted sadness.

_At least I'll always have Pess..._Edgeworth thought sadly to himself.

"I guess we should head over now." Edgeworth said, hoping Phoenix keeped a box of tissues handy. He knew he wasn't going to get through the whole explanation without breaking down.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As Phoenix and Miles walked to his office silently, Phoenix tried to gather his thoughts and understand his feelings. It was incredibly hard for Phoenix to make sense of it all, since Miles basically appeared without warning back into his life.

_Where would he start? What did Phoenix want to know the most?_ Miles mused over all the questions that popped into his mind. The one nagging him the most questioned why Phoenix had become so important to him. His mind suddenly raced back to the scene of Phoenix and Mai hugging and it felt as though his heart tightened painfully.

Pess had grown impatient from the silence and decided to tug at Phoenix's pantleg, whining for attention.

Pess tugging on his pantleg brought Phoenix's thoughts away from his situation with Miles for a moment. He looked down at the dog and bent down to pet him a little more as they walked, a little smile coming to his lips.

Miles watched the small interaction between his dog and Phoenix. That small smile that formed on Phoenix's face suddenly made his heart flutter a little.

_Wait! Why would my heart feel like this just from a goofy smile?!_ Millions of thoughts ran through Miles's mind suddenly, _Maybe it's just because he was angry just a second ago. No that can't be it, _His brow furrowed as he continued thinking, _I can't like him like that, there's no way. He's a man and so am I. Plus that girl he hugged must have been his girlfriend._

He nearly sighed out loud. He was having great difficulty telling himself that though.

Finally they arrived at Phoenix's office and made their way inside. When they were in, they stood silently, both trying to figure out where to begin.

Phoenix suddenly spoke, his voice sounding pained, "Why did you leave like that...why did you let me--umm, I mean us...think you died?"

Edgeworth wasn't sure what to say about the dying part. He was glad that Phoenix had broke the silence though.

"I needed to think things through and staying here wouldn't have given me the time too. As for the note I left, I guess I might have rushed that and shouldn't have written it in the first place." The pain in Phoenix's voice pierced through Edgeworth's heart painfully.

Phoenix looked away from Miles, his face looking very hurt, and said, "It just felt like you abandoned me--umm, us. I wished that you could have talked to me...or, uhh, someone, about what was going on in your head...Since you didn't even contact anyone for a year, what other choice did I have but to feel like you really were gone forever?"

Edgeworth had not looked at Phoenix since they entered his office. He was so used to being independent he wasn't used to being helped.

"I'm not used to telling people my problems." This was true. It must have become a habit, but he always tried to solve everything by himself, no matter how impossible it was. Maybe it was time he stopped trying to do everything by himself.

"Edgeworth..." Phoenix replied softly, his voice sounding intense with emotion, "You could have come to me. I would have listened..."

Phoenix didn't even bother changing "me" to "us" this time, his emotions too strong to let him remember to be embarrassed.

Edgeworth wasn't sure how to reply to that. Could he tell Phoenix anything that has been bothering him?

"I.." Edgeworth wasn't sure what to say. "It's more complicated than that, Wright."

However, the thought of getting helped sounded pleasant.

"How...?" Phoenix asked simply, not even bothering to hide the hurt in his eyes or on his face, just wanting to know what the heck happened.

It wasn't that he didn't want help, it was more that he was afraid to get it, and of seeming weak. He realized that explaining this was also a lot harder than he thought.

"How? Ever since that trial I've had mixed feelings about everything!" He continued to keep himself from facing Phoenix directly. "They were so different from what I usually felt I didn't know how to deal with them."

"Mixed...feelings?" Phoenix said, cocking his head slightly sideways in confusion, this not being what he expected Miles to say, "What do you mean?"

"How would you feel if someone who was your mentor and raised you suddenly backstabbed you?!" He didn't want to relive those feelings again and he held back with all his strength to keep hot tears from falling. "Not only that, he had been your enemy since the start!" Turning his back towards Phoenix, hot tears ran down his cheeks, hitting the floor as he couldn't hold them in any longer.

Phoenix suddenly realized that Miles was crying and this shocked him, only ever knowing him to be cool and detached in most situations. When Phoenix saw the tear marks on the floor, he completely forgot about his own feelings, only wanting to comfort Miles, feeling like this was his fault, like he was the one that made Miles cry.

Edgeworth hated to show weakness to anyone and was trying to stop the tears, but to no avail. The hot, salty liquid continued its course, no matter how many times he tried rubbing away the tears. What would Phoenix think? The so-called demon prosecutor was now crying pitifully in his office. Phoenix hadn't said anything since he had spoken. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Edgeworth glanced over his shoulder, looking at Phoenix with tear stained eyes.

Phoenix felt tears coming to his own eyes when he saw Miles's tear stained face, hardly being able to fathom the pain Miles was feeling now. He knew he couldn't do anything but provide him comfort. Hesitantly, Phoenix walked over to Miles, turned him toward himself, and pulled him into a warm hug.

Edgeworth felt his whole body go rigid. That hug had come so unexpectedly he didn't have time to react properly. Hesitantly, he shakily returned the hug. He knew he was shaking, but he couldn't control it. He didn't want this moment to end, it felt nice to be in Phoenix's arms. His hug with Phoenix slowly had his mind reel back to the girl Phoenix was with. He couldn't deny it, he had fallen for the spiky haired lawyer. Edgeworth couldn't tell Phoenix though. If that girl was indeed his girlfriend, he would only be faced with rejection. And he was afraid of it. His grip had subconsciously tightened a little, not too tight, but enough to be noticed. He wanted to stop his crying too, but the tears refused to stop.

Phoenix noticed how Miles clutched to him, and the way he was shaking in his arms, and this caused Phoenix to really see how deeply Miles was troubled by everything that had happened in the last few years. Phoenix pulled him slightly closer and then raised a nervous hand to lightly stroke the back of Miles's head, feeling more tears falling onto his neck from Miles's eyes.

He didn't argue, feeling Phoenix's hand stroke his head. Instead, he buried his face into Phoenix's shoulder. His body was slowly shaking less, but his grip was still tight. After leaving Phoenix the feelings of betrayal and abandonment, he was still the one who ended up getting the comfort. He felt selfish and weak, feelings he didn't like, but he couldn't help but enjoy the others warmth.

As Phoenix held Miles in his arms, he finally knew why he never much seemed interested in other people for relationships, why he quit theater for law school, why he was completely certain that Miles didn't kill anyone when he defended him in court, and why he kept hoping against hope that Miles would one day return the whole year he was gone. Phoenix loved him. With this new realization, he pulled back from Miles slightly and looked into his eyes. He saw so many emotions swirling around in Miles's eyes, surprised to see how unguarded Miles was right now. He raised his hand slowly to Miles's cheek, still looking at him intensely. Feeling his heart rate suddenly picking up and his breath deepening, Phoenix began to lean in to kiss him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Edgeworth knew exactly what Phoenix's intention was. Or at least what it seemed like Phoenix was trying to do. Ever since he was young he had held Phoenix dear to him. These feelings becoming much stronger after Phoenix defended him in court. That year he was all alone his mind had kept wandering back to Phoenix. He had spent a lot of that year musing what he had been doing, always getting a strange feeling when he thought that Phoenix must have gotten together with some lovely girl. He had slowly started leaning towards Phoenix when he remembered about that girl he was with. He quickly turned away. He needed to find out who that girl was first and why she was important to Phoenix.

"W-Wait, what about that girl?" He looked at Phoenix, confusion etched onto his tear stained face. He was definitely missing something.

At first when Miles turned his face away at the last second, Phoenix felt extremely hurt and stupid, thinking that he must have just taken things too far. But the hurt expression was quickly replaced by confusion.

"Girl? What girl?" Phoenix asked, now also noticing that Miles looked confused as well.

"The girl at the police department?" His brow furrowed, becoming more confused by the second. "I saw you hugging her earlier. I mean, who is she?" There had to be something about her that made her important enough to be hugged after all.

Phoenix furrowed his brow in thought as he tried to figure out who Miles was talking about.

"At the police department...?" he started asking, but then it hit him who Miles was talking about, "What, you mean Mai?"

Phoenix thought a little more and he realized what was going on here.

"You thought...Mai?!" Phoenix said in surprise.

Edgeworth felt his face go hot again. Was it really that surprising to think they might have been together? He looked away his face becoming red again. He was pretty sure he didn't need to answer that question, his facial reaction giving away what he thought, but he answered it anyway.

"Well...yes. If you guys aren't together then who exactly is she...?" He felt a little foolish asking that.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Phoenix cracked a small smile, saying, "Mai's my cousin. She just got hired at the police department as a detective."

"Y-Your cousin?" He felt extremely foolish now. This whole fiasco started from a big misunderstanding. "H-How dare you smile! I'm serious!" He felt his face becoming redder, but at the same time, his heart had that fluttering feeling from earlier.

In spite of himself and the situation, Phoenix felt his smile getting larger. He put both of his hands on Miles's face, now bringing him in for an intense kiss.

Miles was about to say something else when he felt Phoenix's hands bring his face closer to him.

"W-Wright?" If his face could get any redder, it did. He really wasn't used to such closeness. It was also shocking to realize that neither had said 'I love you' either.

Phoenix thought he heard Miles say something, but he was too focused on reaching Miles's lips to hear it. When he felt their lips finally connect, Phoenix felt himself almost immediately get slightly weak in the knees, it was so intense.

Before Edgeworth realized it, he had wrapped his arms around Phoenix's neck. One reason was because he felt that if he didn't he'd fall. The second reason was to deepen the kiss. The kiss felt wonderful. His mind was having trouble catching up with everything. Everything had moved so fast. One second they were at the police department fighting, then he was here at Phoenix's office explaining and then suddenly crying, now they were engaged in a passionate kiss! All of these events were making Edgeworth's head spin.

Phoenix finally pulled back slightly to breathe, feeling like the kiss was just much too short. That kiss made him see exactly what he was missing for all the years he felt this way about Miles. He only wished that he had the guts to come to terms with all the feelings sooner.

Edgeworth was out of breath and extremely flustered. He suddenly was at a loss of what to say.

"I love Phoenix..." Miles said without thinking, the words just tumbling out of his mouth.

Miles suddenly covered his mouth, eyes wide in shock. He had so many thoughts going through his head, he didn't realize he had said one until it was too late. And of all the ones he had to say, it was one of the most important ones! "I-I..."

Phoenix heard Miles say it, but he could hardly believe it was true.

"You...what?" Phoenix whispered, a touch of hope obvious in his voice.

"I-I..." It was hard enough saying it the first time. "I said I love you!" It was lucky Pess had fallen asleep because Edgeworth made his way for the door. "I think I need to take a walk."

However, Edgeworth was quite a sight with dry tears staining his face and red and puffy eyes. He was surely in no state to go out. But Edgeworth felt too embarrassed to care.

Phoenix would not let Miles escape after saying that to him, feeling his heart fluttering at those very words, having wanted so desperately to hear those words from Miles's lips for such a long time.

"Miles, wait." Phoenix said, grabbing onto Miles's shoulders from behind to prevent him from retreating further.

Phoenix gently turned Miles around to face him, and he took Miles's face into his hands again, looking into his eyes.

"Miles...I love you, too." Phoenix said softly with intense emotion, a small smile coming to his lips.

Edgeworth kept his eyes from meeting with Phoenix's. He had the strange feeling that if he'd looked into them he'd lose the strength in his legs to stand.

"Do you mean it?" He couldn't help but be a little cautious. All his past events had made him a little less trusting of others. But than again it was Phoenix he was talking about. Although, the small fear that this was all fake or some type of weird dream made him wary. He knew in truth when it came to feelings such as these, he was the amateur for once.

"Yes. I don't think there's a truer fact in my life." Phoenix said confidently, still smiling.

Edgeworth studied Phoenix carefully for a moment before a small smile graced his lips. The smile was shy, but a sweet smile nonetheless.

Phoenix leaned forward to kiss Miles again, unable to get enough of him. This time, instead of shying away, Miles leaned forward to meet Phoenix in that kiss. The strange fluttering feeling in Edgeworth's stomach had came back, but he realized it was a good feeling in some way.

When Phoenix felt their lips touch, he pulled Miles closer, just wanting to get as close to him as he could, never wanting to let him go, causing Edgeworth to make a small sound of surprise. He wrapped his arms around Phoenix, as though if he let go, Phoenix would disappear.

Phoenix and Miles continued to kiss passionately, completely forgetting about the world around them, not even noticing when Mai and Maya burst into his office without knocking.

"Nick! We need your help!! There's been another --" Maya started saying in excitement, but cutting off abruptly as she witnessed the scene before her.

"Wow..." Mai commented, surprised that neither Phoenix nor Miles seemed to notice they were there, even with Maya talking as loudly as she was.

Mai realized that they could very well walk out at this point and Phoenix and Miles probably wouldn't have known they were there. But Maya talking loudly did have one effect: waking Pess up. The dog blinked sleepily for a moment, but then started barking excitedly when he noticed the new people in the room. This finally brought Phoenix and Miles's attention to Mai and Maya.

Upon hearing the excited barks coming from Pess, Miles realized who had walked in them. He felt his face grow extremely hot for the millionth time that day. He also realized how foolish it was to do something like kiss in an office. He definitely was at a loss of what to say as he stared at them, eyes wide. Pess happily bounced around them, obviously wanting attention from them. He also realized his face was still stained with dry tears and his eyes might still have been slightly red from crying which felt like it happened ages ago, which hopefully wouldn't arouse suspicion or questions of some sort. There was no way he could recover from something like this. Although on the bright side, it could have been worse.

Mai studied Miles's face and she quickly realized that she and Maya had obviously interrupted something important. Just when she was about to tell Maya that they should just come back in a little bit, Maya spoke.

"Wow, Mr. Edgeworth, I didn't know you were back. I can see Nick was in the middle of welcoming you back, isn't it?" Maya said in a teasing tone of voice.

This comment made Phoenix get even more red than he already was and he said, "Maya...it's not like --"

"Sure, sure." Maya said, cutting Phoenix off, giving him a knowing smile.

Miles immediately looked away, too embarrassed to make eye contact with anyone.

"Yes..I'm back..." Miles said quietly.

_Today seems to be full of so many surprises. Some less pleasant than others._ Miles thought in slight annoyance.

But the taste and feeling of Phoenix's lips still seemed to linger on his own, which for some reason, seemed to make up for this embarrassing scene he found himself in.

Mai decided that she should step in before Maya embarrassed either Phoenix or Miles further, even if she was finding this whole situation quite humorous.

"You know, Phoenix...I think we can come back later. Come on, Maya." Mai said, grabbing Maya's arm and tugging her toward the door of he office.

Maya tried resisting, but she decided to comply, letting herself get pulled away.

As Mai and Maya made their way out of the office, Phoenix and Miles heard Maya talking as she walked out, "You know, I totally knew something would happen eventually..."

A little smile came to Phoenix's face when he heard Maya's comment as he looked at Edgeworth. When Mai and Maya were gone, Edgeworth planted a small shy kiss on Phoenix's cheek before leaning on his shoulder contently.


End file.
